Chemistry, it boils down to team chemistry. If the new guys cannot blend in to become part of the Canucks team then it was a bad trade. The Canucks love them or hate them, win with skill. Be interesting to see if this addition of grit is enough to put them over the hump to win the Cup. If not then in my opinion the trade was a bad one.

The Canucks have gotten grittier with this trade but who's going to pick uo the scoring by the departure of Hodgson? Certainly not Pahlson as he got only 2 goals this season. Can Kassian help the Canucks on thier playoff run this year ? Who knows, he had trouble cracking the lineup on a regular basis on a bad Sabres team.

It is not all about scoring, we also have to stop the other team from scoring too and this trade was clearly meant to increase toughness on the back end and grit on the front end to try and dictate the play more. Clearly Gilles is looking for scoring from the top down and defense from the bottom up. Only time will tell if we gave up too much scoring...we still have Booth!

Rick Pahlsson was not brought in to score. He was brought in to shut down the oppenents top lines. He has never been a point producer. He was an important part of the Ducks success in winning the cup in 07.

I am still mad about the Hodgson deal. I have seen Kassian play and he looks like a tough winger with good hands but Hodgson has proven himself this year and good centers with his abilities are hard to come by. The problem is Hodgson is a #2 centerman playing on a team with Sedin and Kessler. He has no chance at getting more ice time for a few years. I just dont want to see this be another Cam Neely trade and we regret it in a couple years.

If the Canucks do not win the cup this year this trade was not worth it.

I'll have to see this kid play before I call a decision on the Hodgson deal... I see what Gillis is tryin to do... but to take away some pure skill for grit that they already showed they had more of this year anyways... I'm not sure. Mind you this big winger could if he can skate well enough might turn into a Lucic/bertuzzi type of guy that will hit hard and fight hard for his teammates. He's now in a position to be in line for a cup... a lot diff atmosphere than Buffalo. Maybe he'll thrive on it, who knows. Where are they going to play him, 4th line or give him a chance on the third.... I do think this kid will need some icetime as he showed some real good numbers in the AHL last year. Time will tell I guess.

All in the trades were good, I agree, the nucks should have got more for Hodgson, but.........

As Bobo said, Phalson will act as a Great sutdown guy and throw in some points as wellKassian (6-foot-3, 215-pound) is the kind of guy that EVERY team needs to get anywhere in the playoffs, Tough and will chip in points.Marc-Andre Gragnani, (6-foot2, 201pound) has a GREAT shot from the point and will add a bit of depth to the back end as well as help on th PP.

Kassain and Gragnani both have played for Team Canada in the world u18, and the world juniors, so they are good players, still young, lets see how they develop on the Canucks!

Hodson has 0 points in 5 games with Buffalo, and he's only a plus 1. Kassian already has 1 goal and 1 assist, and a ton of hits in 4 games. Kassian is 6'4" 225lb and he's only 21. Think about what he'll weigh when he fills out into a mans body - 240lb - 250lb. Cody Hodgson is like a Porsche, and we already have a lot of nice sports cars. What we needed was a Tractor, and Kassian is like a bull in a china shop! Keep in mind, Hodgson was not going up against the opposition's top 2 or top 4 defenceman most of the time he was here, and i think that helped inflate his numbers a little bit. Its too bad we couldn't keep him, but this could ultimately turn out to be the best trade in Canucks history - (at least i sure hope it will turn out that way).